Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy appear in the trailer for "The Revenant," the new film from "Birdman" writer-director Alejandro González Iñárritu.

The official short synopsis from the studio, 20th Century Fox, describes the story as "an adventure of survival" based on the life story of Hugh Glass, a fur trapper and frontiersman who explored the American wilderness during the early 19th century and was famous for recovering from a grizzly bear attack -- an event seen briefly in the trailer.

"The Revenant" doesn't look much like "Birdman," Iñárritu's Oscar-winning film from last year. The trailer depicts a dark, violent, almost fantastic-looking world full of long-haired horsemen wielding old-time weapons. DiCaprio and Hardy are barely recognizable under layers of early American grime. Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter ("The Maze Runner") are also in the cast.

A revenant, by the way, is a person who has returned from the dead. The film is due in select theaters Christmas Day and will expand nationwide in January 2016.